


Not What They Seem

by AlexaMarquisa



Category: Hawaii Five-O (1968)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 11:38:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4136025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexaMarquisa/pseuds/AlexaMarquisa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny questions his boss's actions as he sees Steve's girlfriend with a black eye. Is Steve abusing his girlfriend?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not What They Seem

#  Not What They Seem

 

Danny briskly pushed the door to the Five-O offices open and went straight to Jenny’s desk.

 

“Any messages?” Danny smiled at the efficient secretary.

 

“Yes,” Jenny returned his smile as she handed him a note.  “Steve said if you got out of court by 4 to meet him in the Governor’s office.  He just left here himself so you should be able to catch up with him.”

 

“Thanks,” Danny turned on heel and headed out of the office.  He quickened his pace as he headed down the koa wood stairs of Iolani Palace and out the beautiful etched-glass doors onto the front lanai. 

 

Glancing across the parking lot, Danny spotted Steve standing near his car having what looked to be an intense conversation with Anne.  Danny stopped in his tracks as he watched Steve quickly take hold of Anne’s shoulders and gently shake her.  Anne’s head was down and her hands went up to cover her face.  Danny could see her shoulders shaking. Steve firmly walked her to his car and put her inside.  It was obvious from Steve’s quick pace and clenched fists that he was furious about something.  Anne kept her head down as Steve got in the driver’s seat and the car screeched out of the parking lot. 

 

Obviously Steve wasn’t going to meet the Governor.  Danny hesitated.   Knowing the Governor would be waiting, Danny headed for the government building. The five-minute walk allowed him time to think over the scene he had witnessed. 

 

As he had suspected, Millie, Governor Jameson’s secretary, informed Danny that Steve had just left a message for Danny to meet with the Governor in Steve’s place. 

 

After the meeting, Danny returned to the office just as Jenny was preparing to leave.  Steve had left word that he wouldn’t be back in the office that day. 

 

H*H*H

 

The next day Steve was business as usual. 

 

The detectives worked late into the evening on several current cases that were frustrating the detectives.  By 9 p.m. only Danny and Steve were left in the office, each man in his office behind stacks of files. 

 

Danny heard the door to the main office open and he looked up.  Anne entered the reception area.  She was wearing sunglasses even though it was long past sundown, and she made no motion to remove them. 

 

Not expecting to see Danny, Anne hesitated a brief moment. Danny had risen from his chair to greet her.  Anne quickly put on a smile and took a couple of steps in his direction. 

 

“Anne,” Danny took her hands and placed a friendly kiss on her cheek as he usually did with her.  “Good to see you. What are you doing here so late?”

 

“Hi Danny.  I could ask you the same question, Detective Williams,” Anne gently teased.  Danny noticed she was standing just a bit further away from him than she normally did. 

 

“The never-ending paperwork.  You know what they say.  ‘The job’s not complete until the paperwork is done.’” 

 

Danny’s face became a little more serious.  “So, what’s with the sunglasses?  Trying to avoid the paparazzi?”

 

Anne smiled and ducked her head down just a bit.  “No, no paparazzi.  My eyes are just…” she hesitated, “just a bit sensitive to light today.  Thought the sunglasses would help.”  They both knew she was lying. 

 

As Anne turned her head, Danny saw the shadow of a bruise under her right eye. He reached for her chin to turn her head toward him, but Anne quickly pulled away. 

 

“Is Steve in his office?” Anne was forcefully upbeat.  “I just wanted to drop by to see how late he would be.” 

 

Danny looked at her for a moment, trying to decide what to do.  “Yeh, he’s here. Come on.”  Danny stepped back and motioned Anne toward Steve’s door. 

 

Danny made a quick knock on the large wood door and reached for the doorknob. 

 

“Steve, you have a visitor,” Danny called as he opened the door for Anne to enter. 

 

Danny watched as Steve rose from his desk and moved toward Anne, apparently glad to see her.  Danny decided to give them some privacy and he quietly closed the door behind him.  He hesitated for a minute, thinking over the encounter with Anne and her bruised eye. 

 

As he was standing there he heard Steve’s voice rise.  A chill went up Danny’s spine.  He couldn’t – he didn’t want to understand what Steve was saying so Danny quickly walked back to his office to try to concentrate on his work. 

 

After several minutes, Danny heard Steve’s door open.

 

“I have to, Steve,” Danny heard Anne assert.  She sounded like she was crying.

 

“No!  No you don’t!” Steve thundered.

 

“Let go of me, Steve! Let go!”  Anne cried.  Danny saw her run through the reception area and out of the offices. 

 

“Damn it!” Steve swore as he slammed his office door shut with such force that Danny jumped. 

 

Danny’s eyes were wide with amazement at what he was witnessing.  Never in all the years that he and Steve worked together had Danny seen this kind of behavior from Steve.  He had only known Anne a little over a year but her actions were way out of character too. 

 

Seconds later, Steve’s door opened again and he saw Steve racing out of the office, pulling on his suit jacket as he went. 

 

Danny’s curiosity got the best of him and he headed after Steve. 

 

By the time Danny got to the office door, Steve was already over halfway down the koa wood stairs of the Palace.  Danny moved to the main set of front lanai doors on the second floor and stepped outside.  There was a refreshing breeze blowing.  From his vantage point Danny looked down over the ornate railing and saw Anne’s car in the parking lot.  Below Danny, Steve appeared and briskly trod down the Palace steps and over to Anne’s car.  Steve opened the driver’s door and reached for Anne.  She quickly stepped out of the car and melted into Steve’s arms.  Danny could hear her sobs.  He watched for a moment as Steve comforted her, and then Danny turned and went back to his office. 

 

Danny sat at his desk for another half hour going over the incidents between Steve and Anne over the last couple of days. 

 

H*H*H

 

The next morning after the Five-0 team completed their morning briefing with Steve, Danny lingered in Steve’s office for a moment.

 

“Something wrong, Danno?” Steve questioned without glancing up from the papers he was studying.

 

Danny studied him for a moment.  “Yes, there is.”  Danny took a deep breath determined to risk the possibility of Steve’s wrath at Danny’s intrusion into his private life. 

 

“Steve, I don’t want to pry, but—“

 

“But you want to know what’s behind that scene you witnessed last night.” Steve finished the sentence for his friend and coworker.

 

Danny looked sheepishly at Steve but was unwavering in his resolve to make sure Anne was not in trouble.  “Yes, last night… and a few other incidents I’ve witnessed.”

 

Steve looked a bit surprised, wondering exactly what Danny had seen.  Steve slowly rose from his chair and walked across the room to close his office door.  He then walked back toward his desk and wearily took a seat in one of the white leather visitor chairs in front of his desk. 

 

“Danno, Anne has had a visitor, a sort of relative, appear in Honolulu.  His name is Tony Scala.  When they were both teenagers, Tony briefly lived with Anne’s family.  Her parents took him in for a few months after his father was sent off to prison.  His mother had died when he was a young child, so Tony grew up with an alcoholic father who had little time for Tony.  By the time he came to live with Anne’s family, Tony was a pretty tough streetwise kid.” 

 

Steve rose and walked over to the lanai doors.  Gazing out over the Palace grounds, he wearily continued speaking. 

 

“Something happened during the time he was part of their family.  Anne won’t tell me the whole story but from what I’ve been able to piece together whatever it was made Anne extremely frightened of guns.”

 

Danny was aware of Anne’s fear of guns.  On more than one occasion he had seen her eye Steve’s or Danny’s gun with unease.  

 

“Anyway,” Steve continued, “Tony showed up in Honolulu.  I get the feeling he’s been here for a while prior to contacting Anne.  Right now, he’s got a cheap room down on Hotel Street.  Anne feels some sort of sense of duty to help him get back on his feet, but personally I don’t trust him.  He’s a dangerous man, Danno, but Anne won’t hear a bad word about him.”

 

“Is he the one who gave her that black eye?” The question was out of Danny’s mouth before he realized it, but he didn’t regret asking it. 

 

Steve was a bit surprised at the directness.  “Yes, supposedly it was an accident.  Anne said he showed up drunk at the condo.  They argued and he pushed her.  She fell against the doorframe and got the black eye.”  Steve pressed his fist into his other hand, trying to contain his anger. 

 

“He’s a dangerous man, Danno!” Steve angrily declared as he paced across the room, flexing his hands in frustration.  “Why can’t she see that? The day before he gave her the black eye, he had bullied her for money, pushing her around and even threatening her with a knife, then telling her he was only kidding.”  Steve sighed heavily.  “But she won’t let me intervene, or even talk to him for that matter.”  Steve turned to face Danny. “He should be arrested for hitting her, but scared as she was, she won’t hear of it!”  Steve’s exasperation was evident. 

 

Danny shook his head at the situation.

 

“So what did he do for resources before tapping Anne? Did he lose his job? Or was he into something illegal?”

 

Steve sighed.  “I don’t know, Danno.  It’s entirely possible he’s into something shady. He had to get money somehow, but my gut tells me he’s not the steady worker type, if you get my drift. I wouldn’t put anything past him.”

 

“Want me to look into it?”  Danny slyly grinned at his boss. “You know, I’m working on that murder case that happened just behind ‘The Kitty Kat Klub’ on Hotel Street.  The lab’s working on some evidence we picked up at the crime scene. I can go check around again and see what else may have turned up.  Maybe get some information on him down there.”

 

Steve eyed him carefully, knowing that as it stood now his only evidence against Tony was hearsay between Tony and Anne, and if Anne wouldn’t press charges, there was nothing more Steve could do.  Slowly, Steve returned Danny’s smile.

 

“Yeh, Danno, there’s always a ‘certain element’ in that part of Hotel Street and we might just get lucky and break up a part of it.  Yeh, you do a little investigating and see what turns up.”  Steve gave Danny a brief description of Tony and the general area where he lived.

 

Danny nodded and rose to leave.  As he opened the door, Steve called his name.  Danny stopped and looked back across the room at this boss.

 

“Thanks,” Steve stated.  Danny smiled and headed toward his office.  

 

H*H*H

 

The area Steve described was the worst in the city. The tourists didn’t dare come into that area, and the police worked hard to keep the seedy section of Honolulu from growing any bigger, but it was a never-ending task. Danny had already interviewed the Kitty Kat Klub’s owner and several of the hostesses, but with a new angle, he headed down to the club to interview them again.

 

A couple of the hostesses recognized the description of Tony. They wouldn’t say more than they had “seen him around”. The women looked nervous at the mention of Tony’s name but clammed up on any further information.

 

Leaving the club, Danny headed out back to view the crime scene again. He heard a door close behind him.  Knowing the area was a rough one, he was on edge for any malevolence and swung around to face whoever had exited the building.

 

Standing there was one of the hostesses he hadn’t interviewed but had seen in the club. She studied him carefully, then pulled a cigarette case out of her pocket, and leisurely extracted a cigarette. Holding it in front of her, she waited to see what Danny would do. Slowly, Danny pulled a lighter from his pocket and stepped closer to her. After lighting her smoke, she took a long drag and then looked Danny square in the face.

 

“You wanna know about Tony?” she asked quietly.

 

“Yeh, I take it you know him.” Danny flatly stated, not wanting to seem too anxious for the information she obviously had on Tony.

 

“He’s a rough one. Likes to be the big man in the room, if you know what I mean.”

 

“So I’ve heard.” Danny coolly stated. “Likes to be a bit rough on the women, so I hear.”

 

The woman snickered and blew her cigarette smoke to the side. “That’s an understatement.”

 

“Was he here the night of the murder?” Danny ventured.

 

The woman thought for a moment.  “Yeh, he was here. He was high on something that night.  He made quite a scene with some of the girls. Then took a few swings at some customers who tried to calm him down.”

 

“What time did he leave?” Danny questioned further, trying to stay as nonchalant as he could.

 

The woman thought for a moment. “I’d say about 1:30 that morning.” She thought another moment.  Yeh, we close at 2 a.m. so it must have been about 1:30 when he left.”

 

“Did you see where he went when he left?” Danny continued.

“Nope.” The woman flatly stated. She was quiet then continued. “I didn’t see where he went because he came out that door.” She nodded toward the door behind her.  “He couldda gone anywhere from out here.”

Danny looked around the area again.  She was right. There were at least three directions he could have taken from the alleyway. 

Danny sighed to himself.  “Have any idea where he lives?” he queried.

“Yeh, just down the street. At ‘The Hula Hotel’.” She snickered. “What a dump.”

Danny smiled in agreement. “Anything else you can tell me about him?”

The woman shrugged again and shook her head.  _There’s no more info from this lady,_ Danny thought to himself.

“Well, thanks for the info.” He smiled at her.

“Anytime.” She said, and threw her cigarette on the ground. Danny turned to walk away.

“Hey,” she said as she stepped on the discarded cigarette. Danny turned back towards her.  “The name’s Rita.” She faintly smiled at him.

Danny returned the smile. “Thanks Rita” and he headed back to his car.

“Central to Williams. Central to Williams” the car radio crackled. Danny grabbed the handset.

“Williams. Go ahead.”

“Message from Che waiting for you at the lab.” The dispatcher stated.

“I’m on my way. Williams out.” Danny tossed the handset back onto the dashboard and got in his car.

H*H*H

“Danny,” Che called as Danny entered the lab. “I have an I.D. on those prints from the Hotel Street murder.”

“Great, Che. I could use some good news on that one.”

Che pulled out some documents that contained the prints taken from the crime scene.

“Comes from the mainland. A one ‘Tony Scala’ from Nevada.”  Che stated.

Danny’s mouth dropped a bit as he quickly took the documents from Che’s hand to read them himself.

“Tony Scala… well, well, well.” Danny slowly smiled. “Che, you just gave me exactly what I needed.” Danny broadly smiled at the scientist, and he turned toward the phone sitting by the door to the lab.  Quickly dialing, he anxiously waited for Steve to answer.

“McGarrett.” The voice on the other end of the phone growled.

“Steve? Danny.”

“What have you got, Danno?”

“This one’s almost too easy, Steve.” Danny stated.

Steve got Danny’s undivided attention. “Too easy?”

“Yeh, Che just identified the prints on the weapon left at the Kitty Kat Klub murder, and you won’t believe who it is.”

Steve’s patience was thin already and he wasn’t in the mood for games today. “Give Danno.” He snarled.

“Tony Scala.” Danny couldn’t help smiling as he made the statement. There was silence on the other end of the phone line.

“Tony?” Steve sat back in his chair to digest the information. “Danno, that’s exactly what we needed to get him off the streets” Steve said, “and away from Anne.”

Danny gave Steve the hotel name where Tony was staying.

“Got it Danno. I’ll meet you there.”

Danny hung up the phone and opened the door, waving to Che. “Good work, Che,” he called over his shoulder.

*H*H*H*

 

The closer the taxi got to the address Tony had given her, the more she wanted to turn around and go home.

 

She tried to tell herself she was just being silly. Tony was Tony. He got a little rambunctious at times, but he would never put her in danger. Or would he? The gnawing feeling in her stomach had reached a point that she was starting to realize something was indeed wrong with Tony.

 

_He needs help._ She thought. _He had to fend for himself in those early years, and it made him tough. He had to be tough, just to survive. But despite the help I’ve given him, he doesn’t change. He seems.. He seems to get harder… meaner, yes, that was the word. Meaner. He even scares me at times. Oh, that’s silly, Anne. It’s Tony! He’s just a tough boy, acting out as they say. He’s not really bad. Not really. But… sometimes…._

 

Anne was startled out of her thoughts as the taxi stopped.

 

“This is the place, lady.” The cab driver flatly stated.

 

Anne looked out at the run down building in front of which they were parked. The door was dirty, grimy from hundreds of unwashed hands pushing it open. The one lone window was boarded over. Trash littered the sidewalk up and down both sides of the street. A filthy looking drunk was propped up against the wall under the boarded window, slumped over with his arms wrapped around his bottle of wine. Just two doors down, a ‘lady of the evening’ was fawning over a grubby looking man. He wanted her and she wanted his money.

 

“Lady, you sure this is where you wanted to go?” the cab driver asked, knowing Anne didn’t look like she belonged in this type of place.

 

Anne had seen enough and was about to tell the driver to take her home when she spotted Tony. Even worse, he had spotted her.

 

She was committed now. She had to get out of the cab and into Tony’s world.

 

By the time Tony had reached her, she had paid the driver and he was pulling away from the curb.

 

“Anne!”Tony exclaimed, more loudly than was necessary. “So glad you could make it.” He wrapped his arm around her and walked her past the unconscious drunk and toward that grimy door.

 

It was dark inside and smelled of mold, alcohol, tobacco smoke, and sweaty bodies. They passed the clerk, a fat, greasy looking man who looked older than he probably was, sitting at his desk. Cigar smoke hung in the air around him. The movement of air made by them passing by him sent the cigar smoke wafting in all directions, clinging to every porous surface and fiber of clothing.

 

Tony led her down a hallway lit by only one bulb in the middle, making the end of the hallway eerily shadowy. He pulled out his key and opened the door to his room. The door was as filthy as the one they came through as they entered the building, but the room itself was beyond anything Anne could have imagined.

 

Anne cringed as she looked around at the peeling paint and peeling wallpaper on each wall. To her left, there was a lone picture hanging askew over the bed that was pushed against the wall.  Just past the bed in the corner was a small window, covered by ragged curtains.  Across from the door where Anne was standing was another door, presumably to either a closet or bathroom.  To her right was an empty and equally dirty wall.

 

“Come on in, Annie!” Tony called. “My home!” Tony was overly loud and gregarious as he waved his arms and proudly turned around in the middle of the small room.

 

Anne took a single step into the room.

 

“So Annie, what do you think of my humble abode?” he cooed. Anne was searching for something nice to say, but the words just wouldn’t come.

 

Tony moved toward her, and lowered his voice.  “I see, my dear. Not your cup of tea, eh?” he snickered. “Not like your nice place with ol’ Stevie, the cop!” he nastily stated.

 

Changing back to a happy mood as quickly as he changed to the bad one, he pulled Anne into his arms.

 

“Oh, Annie, I know, I know. You love him, right?” he sweetly said. “Right?”

 

Anne tried to smile. “Yes. Yes I do, Tony.”  Anne tried to pull away from him but he pulled her tighter.

 

“Oh, come on, Annie, give us a kiss!” he had his hand on the back of her neck making it hard for her to escape his arms.

 

“No, Tony, stop.” She squirmed, trying to pull away.

 

“Oh, come on Annie!”

 

A charge of panic swept across Anne. “Don’t call me ‘Annie’, Tony! You know I don’t like that name!” she hissed.

 

“Oh, yeh, I forgot. But that’s always been my pet name for you. My sweet little Annie.” He purred, pulling her still closer.

 

“No!” Annie almost shouted. Tony released her. Both were quiet for a moment as they regained composure.

 

Tony ran his hands through his hair then took a couple of steps away from her, flexing both hands in and out of a fist. 

 

“You know what your problem is Anne?” he loudly growled, pointing his finger at her face. “You think you’re too good for me.”

 

Anne’s patience was waning. “Of course I don’t Tony. I just don’t want you to call me that name.” She didn’t want a lot of things from him, but fear of his reaction kept her silent at the moment on the other points of contention.

 

Tony paced the room, getting angrier and angrier. Finally Anne decided it was time to end this visit.

 

“Tony, I have to leave.” She stated and turned toward the door.

 

Instantly furious, Tony leapt toward her barring her from leaving.

 

“Oh no Annie. Oh no! Not this time!” He ranted. “You’re staying with me this time!” Tony grabbed her again in a lock hold.

 

Anne could feel his breath on her cheek, and the furor emanating from him was like electricity pulsing through his body and piercing into hers. His arms held her so tightly it hurt. There was a fire in his eyes that looked like pure evil. His upper lip curled in a snarl as he stared down at her. 

 

Anne’s panic escalated as she realized that this time indeed was different than any time before with Tony. She squirmed to get free of his release but without success.   He only tightened his grip on her and she realized she was helplessly captive in his grip.

 

“Tony, you’re hurting me!” Anne cried.  “Please let me go!”

 

“Shut up!” Tony growled as he jerked her against his body, lifting her off the ground.  “Just shut up!”

 

“Let her go!” Steve’s voice boomed from behind them.  Both Tony and Anne looked toward him. Neither had heard the door open.  Steve caught the look of relief on Anne’s face at hearing Steve’s voice. 

 

“Well, look who’s here,” Tony sarcastically cooed as he lowered Anne back to the ground but kept a tight hold on her.  “If it isn’t the wonder-cop McGarrett.  Nice of you to join us, Stevie, old boy.”

 

“I said let her go.” Steve repeated.  His voice was deadly serious.

 

Tony’s jaw went taut and he dropped his right hand.  He pulled a small handgun from his waist and took a tighter hold on Anne as he waived the gun at her, sending a visible shudder through her body.  Anne’s panic at seeing the gun so close to her made her nauseous.

 

“Shut up, McGarrett!” Tony yelled. “You can’t order me to do anything!” Tony swung Anne to his side and took a tight hold of Anne’s neck as he moved behind her so he could look straight at Steve. “You see, McGarrett, you’re not in charge here.  This is my place. We’re gonna do what I say, and I say you just slowly take that little police special outta your pocket and drop it on the floor.”

 

Steve made no move to obey Tony’s command. 

 

“Do it!” Tony shouted as he squeezed Anne’s neck.  Anne cried out and her face twisted in pain at the fingers pinching her. 

 

Steve quickly raised his hands in submission and slowly withdrew his weapon from his shoulder holster. 

 

“That’s it, Stevie, now drop it on the floor nice and easy,” Tony purred.  Steve slowly obeyed the order, never losing eye contact with Tony.

 

“Now kick it over here,” Tony stated.  Once again, Steve obeyed. 

 

Anne gagged as she tried to catch her breath, and her knees collapsed under her.  Tony tightened his grip on her and jerked her back against him.  Steve saw Tony’s attention was momentarily diverted and he leapt toward Tony grabbing for the gun in Tony’s hand.  The trio fell to the floor and Anne fell away, gagging and gasping for air.  The two men struggled for control of the gun.  Steve got a punch to Tony’s jaw but Tony got Steve in a hold.  The two men rolled across the floor fighting for Tony’s gun. 

 

The sound of a gunshot made the men still for a second.  But as each realized that the bullet had hit neither, they continued the struggle.  Tony got a punch to Steve’s jaw that dropped Steve back long enough for Tony to get on his feet.  Steve staggered against the closet door. Tony moved across from him in the corner to the right of the front door.

 

“So McGarrett, like I said, we’re gonna do what I want.  And I want you dead!” Tony shouted.  He leveled the gun at Steve.

 

“No, Tony!” Anne screamed.  “Tony, I’ll shoot!”

 

Surprised, Tony glanced behind him.  Anne was pointing Steve’s gun at Tony. 

 

“Well, little Annie has a gun!” Tony snickered.  “Too bad she won’t use it.”

 

“I will, Tony!  I swear I will!” Anne cried.  “Let Steve go!” There was a note of tenacity in her voice that Steve had never heard before. A note that told Steve she would indeed shoot in order to save Steve.

 

Tony looked at her for a moment then a smile spread across his face as he turned back to Steve. 

 

“No, Annie.  You won’t shoot.  You hate guns remember?  You always have.   Why, your hands are shaking just holding the thing!”  Tony aimed his gun at Steve and prepared to fire.

 

“No, Tony! Don’t!” Anne screamed as she aimed Steve’s gun at Tony.

 

“NO!” she screamed as she heard the click of Tony’s gun being cocked.  The air crackled with the sound of the shot.  Anne froze in horror as Tony fell to the ground. 

 

Steve looked toward the direction from which the shot came.  Danny was standing in the doorway with his gun aimed at Tony.  Steve quickly moved toward the body and checked for a pulse. 

 

“Thanks, Danno,” Steve quietly stated as he pocketed the gun Tony had held.  Looking up at Anne Steve saw she was still pointing the gun at Tony.  The color was drained from her cheeks and her face was frozen in a twisted expression of terror.  Slowly Steve rose and eased toward her. 

 

“Easy, Anne, it’s over,” he calmly told her.  He carefully extracted the gun from her shaking hands.  As soon as the gun was out of her hands Anne let out a long wail and collapsed into Steve’s arms.

 

“I shot him!” she screamed in horror.  “I shot him!  I killed him!”

 

“No, Anne, no!” Steve supported the trembling woman and tried to calm her.  “No, honey, you didn’t shoot him, Danno did.  You didn’t kill him.  Easy honey.”  Steve guided her away from the body and out of the room.

 

*H*H*H*

 

Anne leaned back into Steve’s arms.  “I tried so many times to help him, Steve,” she said quietly.  Steve had brought Anne home and settled her on the couch as she finally calmed down from the dreadful – and final experience with Tony.

 

“He had choices, Anne. You and your family gave him opportunities.” Steve gently rubbed her shoulders. “But the choice was his. It wasn’t your fault.”

 

Anne was quiet for a long time, thinking over the old days with Tony, and how his life ultimately ended. Steve could almost see the wheels of her mind turning as she worked through the memories and emotions.

 

Anne finally let out a deep sigh.

 

“I wanted so much for him to succeed. I guess I just couldn’t – or _wouldn’t_ believe that he really was a bad seed. Looking back over the time we spent together, even from the beginning as teenagers, he -,” Anne’s voice broke with emotion.

 

“Shhh, Anne, it’s over, honey. It’s over.” Steve pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.

 

“But Steve, I don’t want to admit to myself he really was bad,” she cried. “But he was! He really was evil! And I didn’t have the guts to admit it to myself. Maybe, maybe if I had admitted it a long time ago – and the signs were there! They were there, Steve. I just chose to ignore them.” She roughly brushed away the tears flowing from her eyes. “If I had admitted it then, maybe he would have straightened up. Tough love, right? Did I do wrong to ignore what was right in front of me?” 

 

“No! No, Anne, you didn’t,” Steve firmly stated.  “You believed the best of him, and there’s nothing wrong in that. It’s what makes you special.” He caressed her cheek. “You believe the best in everyone. And you should.”

 

“But Steve, you see people as they are. You _know_ when they’re bad, when their evil. You _know!_ ” 

 

“Anne, I’ve seen the uglier side of a lot of lives for a long time. Yes, there’s a lot of bad guys out there, and yes, it’s my job to find them and put them away. So that special people like you can live safely, can really believe that there is some good in this world.”  He turned to face her, gently pulling her face toward him. “Don’t let Tony take your belief of some good in people away. Yes, there are good people out there, and there are bad. And most people have a bit of both in them. Don’t forget that, Anne. Don’t forget that.”

 

He hugged her again. “I’ll tell you a little secret.” He smiled to himself. “Danno was questioning the good and evil in me these last couple of days.”

 

“What?” Anne startled and turned to face him. Steve just smiled.

 

“He witnessed several, uh, incidents between you and me, and he thought it might be possible I was hurting you.” 

 

“Steve, no! How could he _possibly_ think that??” Anne cried. “You two have worked together for years, and you have such a deep friendship. How could he question you, knowing you as he does?”

 

“Well, he saw us at the car when you were crying and I was so upset, then when you came in the office with your eye bruised, then heard us arguing, he began to wonder what was going on” 

 

Steve gently laughed. “You see, my dear, as Danno learned, people are not always what they seem.” 

 

Anne thought about Steve’s comments for a moment.

 

“Yes,” she quietly stated. “But sometimes people, like Tony, are indeed what they seem.” 

 

H*H*H

 

 


End file.
